Medical cabinet communication system and methods

ABSTRACT

Described is an RFID-enabled medical item storage, organization, and/or tracking device, such as a cabinet or shelf, that includes a limited-range wireless network communication capability, such as low-energy Bluetooth or Zigbee, to communicate with nearby cabinets, shelves or mobile devices, any of which may serve as a communication aggregator to coordinate the communication of multiple cabinets, shelves and other devices with an inventory management system or other back-end computer system or other device via back haul wireless or wired networks (e.g., the Internet).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/455,065, filed Mar. 9, 2017, which claimspriority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/305,887, filed Mar. 9, 2016, entitled “MEDICAL CABINET COMMUNICATIONSYSTEM AND METHODS”, the entirety of the contents of each of thepreceding applications is incorporated herein by reference, as if fullyset forth in this document, for all purposes.

BACKGROUND Field of the Technology

The present disclosure describes an RFID-enabled medical item storage,organization, and/or tracking device, such as a cabinet or shelf, thatincludes a limited-range wireless network communication capability, suchas low-energy Bluetooth or Zigbee, to communicate with nearby cabinets,shelves or mobile devices, any of which may serve as a communicationaggregator to coordinate the communication of multiple cabinets, shelvesand other devices with an inventory management system or other back-endcomputer system or other device via back haul wireless or wired networks(e.g., the Internet).

Background of the Technology

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems have been used to trackmedical item supplies in hospitals and through the medical item supplychain. Such systems typically involve one or more readers and many RFIDtags, each of which is associated with (e.g., attached to) items beingmonitored or tracked. In the case of pharmaceuticals, single-use medicaldevices, and implantable medical devices, RFID tags are typicallyaffixed to or made part of the item's packaging or container. Anadvantage of RFID tags is that they are stand-off readable (i.e.,readable at a distance without a requirement for contact or a directline of sight path between the reader and the tag).

RFID tags take the form of integrated circuits, with associatedantennas, that have computer readable memory encoded with unique serialnumbers. RFID tags typically can be encoded with other information inaddition to unique serial numbers either at the time of manufacture orthereafter by writing data to a writeable or re-writable computerreadable memory of the RFID tag. The reader includes or is connected toan antenna used to generate a carrier signal that energizes the RFID tagantenna when the RFID tag is within the electromagnetic field generatedby the reader's antenna. The energized RFID tag generates a data signalthat is transmitted by the tag's antenna and received by the RFIDreader's antenna. The reader and/or its associated antenna can be in afixed location or may be mobile, such as carried by an operator. Forexample, RFID readers are often placed at multiple, distributedlocations associated within a supply chain in order to monitor the itemsas they pass through manufacturing, transportation, distribution,storage, to consumption. Each reader captures the RFID tag serialnumbers of each item as it enters the reader's interrogation field, anddata collected from all readers facilitates item tracking over time,through and within the supply chain.

Medical item cabinets may be equipped with one or more RFID readers tointerrogate and read the contents of the RFID tags associated with theitems stored in or near the cabinet to monitor or track the taggeditems. Such cabinets typically include a computer (i.e., centralprocessing unit (CPU)) that processes and/or stores information readfrom the RFID tags and serves as the communication hub for the cabinet.These cabinets are typically connected via a primary communicationchannel to the Internet or other communications network (i.e., the“cloud”) using a wired or Wi-Fi network adapter connected to thecabinet's computer. This primary communication channel is used tocommunicate information between the cabinet and remotely located serversor other computer systems, such as an inventory management system, forseveral purposes, including to:

-   -   (1) send information read from medical item tags (i.e., bar code        or RFID tags) from the cabinet to the cloud during or after a        cabinet inventory read cycle;    -   (2) modify cabinet settings, such as the frequency of inventory        read cycles;    -   (3) update software or firmware on the cabinet remotely; and    -   (4) send diagnostic commands to assess problems and obtain        diagnostic information and logs.

From time-to-time, a problem may occur in which the symptom is acommunication failure between the cabinet and the remote servers. Thiscan happen due to several possible reasons, including:

-   -   (i) the cabinet's computer or network adapter has failed;    -   (ii) the cabinet has lost power (e.g., the cabinet has been        unplugged from a wall outlet); or    -   (iii) the cabinet has been disconnected from the network by, for        example, a wired communication cable has been unplugged, the        cabinet has moved out of range of a wireless network, or        unintended changes have been made to the settings of the        hospital network or the cabinet's computer or network adapter.

When a cabinet fails to communicate with the cloud, remote tracking ofthe medical items stored by the cabinet is delayed at least untilcommunication can be reestablished. On occasion it is necessary for aservice technician to travel to the location of the cabinet to diagnoseand resolve the issue, which can cause significant delay and associatedcosts. Furthermore, this gap in communication can result in inventoryshortages and increased risk of inventory loss due to diversion ortheft. It is desirable to reduce the frequency and duration ofcommunication failures between medical item storage cabinets and thecloud in order to provide more accurate and timely remote inventorymonitoring and tracking.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects of the present disclosure include equipping a medicalitem storage cabinet or individual shelves of such storage cabinet witha limited-range wireless network capability that allows a remotedetermination of, for example, whether the cabinet (or shelf) has power,that its computer or RFID reader is functioning properly, and perhapsthat a simple call to the hospital IT department is warranted to performrepair and re-connection. In certain aspects, a first medical itemstorage cabinet is configured to communicate through (i) a primarycommunication channel with a remotely located inventory managementsystem; and (ii) a secondary communication channel with a nearby cabinetvia a short-range wireless network channel. In certain aspects, thenearby cabinet may relay communications received from the first cabinetto the inventory management system via the nearby cabinet's primarycommunication channel or via the nearby cabinet's secondarycommunication channel to another nearby cabinet. In certain otheraspects, the nearby cabinet may process information received from thefirst cabinet via the secondary communication channel and transmitinformation to the inventory management system based on the informationreceived from the first cabinet.

In certain aspects, the first cabinet includes a transceiver device thatbroadcasts a short-range wireless network signal. The signal may bereceived by a nearby cabinet, shelf, or mobile device and may includeinformation about the first cabinet such as, for example, an operationalstatus of the cabinet. In certain aspects, the signal includesinformation about the medical items stored in or near the cabinet. Forexample, the signal may include serial numbers of the tags associatedwith the stored medical items, additional information about the storedmedical items such as, for example, expiration dates, and/or the signalmay include notification information such as, for example, informationindicating that one or more of the stored medical items has expired.

In certain aspects, the first cabinet includes a two-way transceiverthat establishes and transmits and/or receives signals via the secondarycommunication channel. The first cabinet may communicate via thesecondary communication channel with a nearby cabinet, shelf, or mobiledevice. The first cabinet may transmit information via the secondarycommunication channel such as, for example, information about theoperational status of the first cabinet or of nearby cabinets,information containing instructions or commands such as, for example,information instructing a nearby cabinet or mobile device to change thesettings of its network adapter, serial numbers of the tags associatedwith the medical items stored in or near the first cabinet or nearbycabinets, additional information about the stored medical items such as,for example, expiration dates, and/or notification information such asinformation indicating that one or more of the stored medical items hasexpired. The first cabinet may receive information via the secondarycommunication channel from nearby cabinets or nearby mobile devices. Thereceived information may include, for example, information about theoperational status of nearby cabinets or mobile devices, informationcontaining instructions or commands such as, for example, informationinstructing the first cabinet to restart or change the settings of itsnetwork adapter, and/or information associated with the medical itemsstored by the first cabinet or nearby cabinets such as, for example,expiration dates.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a system fortracking within a facility medical items having associated RFID tags,the system including a plurality of medical item supply locations thatstore the medical items, and a handheld RFID reader that reads the RFIDtags associated with the medical items. The medical supply locations maybroadcast a signal via a short-range wireless network protocol. The RFIDreader may determine a strength of the short-range wireless networksignals, and based on the determination, the RFID reader may display aselectable list of the medical supply locations. The selectable list maybe filtered to display only the medical supply locations that have athreshold strength of the short-range wireless network signal or thatare computed to be less than a threshold distance away from the RFIDreader. The RFID reader may enable entry of a transaction or inventorycount associated only with the medical supply locations included in theselectable list.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed embodiments will hereinafter be described in conjunctionwith the appended drawings, provided to illustrate and not to limit thedisclosed aspects, wherein like designations denote like elements, andin which:

FIG. 1 is a front schematic view of an RFID cabinet storage device forholding medical items in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a medical item storage cabinet system inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a medical item storage cabinetcommunication system in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a medical item storage cabinet system inaccordance with certain other aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings. In thefollowing description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofone or more aspects. It may be evident, however, that such aspects maybe practiced without these specific details.

A hospital or other medical care facility generally includes multiplemedical supply storage rooms devoted to housing supplies includingmedical items, and procedure rooms where the medical items are used,such as consumed during medical procedures or implanted in patients.These supply rooms may include a number of medical item cabinet storagedevices that store the medical items in proximity to the procedure roomsuntil they are used. FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a cabinetstorage device (“cabinet”) 10 in accordance with the present disclosure.The cabinet 10 may store rows of items, such as medical items 1, whichmay include implanted devices (e.g., cardiac stents and jointreplacements), disposables (e.g., catheters and hypodermic syringes),and equipment (e.g., imaging and monitoring devices), for example.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the cabinet 10 has a top wall 11, a leftside wall 12, a right 13 side wall, and a bottom wall 14, togetherdefining an interior space. At least one shelf 15 separates thecabinet's interior space into distinct storage regions 16. In anexemplary embodiment, at least one of the cabinets 10 in a storage roomis a radio frequency identification (RFID) equipped cabinet 10 thatincludes an associated RFID reader 20 (FIG. 2) that can detect and readinformation embedded in RFID tags associated with (e.g., attached to)the medical items 1 stored within the cabinet 10. In this disclosure,the term “shelf” refers to a generally planar member capable ofsupporting an object, and the term “cabinet” refers to a structureincluding one or more shelves. These terms, however, are not intended tobe limiting as to the physical attributes of any structure that may beused to implement embodiments of the present disclosure, but are usedmerely for convenience in explaining certain embodiments. Any knownstructure for storing, housing, or otherwise supporting an object may beused in implementing the various embodiments of this disclosure.

One embodiment of a storage cabinet system in accordance with thisdisclosure is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. In this embodiment, thecabinet 10 includes a power supply unit (PSU) 32 that supplies powerfrom an external source, such as a standard power outlet, to thecabinet's computer 30 and to other electrical components (e.g., RFIDreader 20) by direct power cable connections and/or indirectly throughconnections with one or more of the other components as illustrated inFIG. 2. Optionally, the cabinet 10 may include a backup power supply,such as a battery 34 that supplies power to one or more electricalcomponents in the event of a main power failure (e.g., the cabinet isunplugged from the external power source or the PSU 32 fails). Thecomputer 30 is connected to the RFID reader 20 through a digital signalconnection 40. The RFID reader 20 is connected via RF signal connections42 to antenna boards 44 and their associated antennas 46 located in eachshelf 15.

The computer 30 is connected to a primary communication network vianetwork adapter 34. Specifically, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, thecomputer 30 communicates with an inventory management system 22 via aprimary communication channel 21, such as a wired local area network(LAN) or a wireless Wi-Fi network that is connected to the inventorymanagement system 22 via “the cloud” 50, which can include anycommunication link or network, for example, the Internet, Ethernet, alocal network, Controller Area Network (CAN), serial, Local Area Network(LAN), or Wide Area Network (WAN). The inventory management system 22may then be used to track the presence of the medical items 1 in thecabinet 10 in real-time without intervention by staff. Thus, there is noaction required by the hospital personnel in order to enable theinventory management system 22 to detect the presence of the medicalitems 1. Further, there is no staff intervention required when items 1are removed since periodic scans of the cabinet's entire contents by thereader 20 detects removal, which is determined by or reported to theinventory management system 22.

An RFID reader in accordance with this disclosure includes any devicecapable of receiving RF signals transmitted by the RFID tags andconverting the received RF signals to digital signals. For example, invarious embodiments, the RFID reader may include or be connected to oneor more antennas, with associated antenna boards. The antenna boards maynot be needed for some designs. If present, antenna boards may includetuning components (e.g., tuning circuitry) and other components (e.g.,LED indicators) and may include logic and switching controls asnecessary to perform the operations described herein. In variousembodiments, the antenna boards include signal processors that convertthe RF signals received by the antennas to digital signals, and digitalsignals received, for example, from the computer into RF signals to betransmitted by the antennas. In some embodiments, the RFID readersinclude communication adapters capable of communicating the digitalsignals to the cabinet's computer or directly to the inventorymanagement system via the cloud. In other embodiments, the antennaboards are connected via RF signal cables to the cabinet's computer orto a separate signal processing unit in communication with the computer.

Accordingly, the term “computer” may refer to a device that is separatefrom, but in communication with, one or more RFID readers, or it mayrefer to one or more RFID readers that include the communicationcircuitry or other components capable of communicating informationreceived from the RFID tags to the inventory management system. Invarious embodiments, the computer may include a processing device (e.g.,microprocessor, discrete logic circuit, application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), programmable logic circuit, digital signal processor(DSP), etc.) and other associated hardware as may be necessary toprocess, store, and communicate information, as well as connect to andoperate with the cabinet's various electrical components describedherein.

For simplicity, the terms “cabinet” and “shelf” may be used generally torefer to equipment that may include associated computers, RFID readers,antennae, and other components. For example, if it is described that “acabinet reads RFID tags,” it should be understood that the RFID tags areread by one or more RFID readers associated with the cabinet, and if itis described that “a cabinet communicates with the inventory managementsystem,” it should be understood that the cabinet's computer or RFIDreader communicates with the inventory management system through theprimary communication channel via the network adapter connected to thecomputer or RFID reader, or through the secondary communication channelvia the transceiver as described in greater detail below.

In one preferred embodiment, the term “RF signal” refers to radiofrequency signals used, for example, to interrogate an RFID readerantenna or group of antennae. However, it is understood that the term“RF signal” also refers to any other signals capable of being used withthe exemplary devices, systems, and methods including, but not limitedto, DC pulse communications, or voltage-level based communications (TTL,etc.). The term “digital signal” refers, in one preferred embodiment, toany binary signal encoding data that can be transported via any suitablecarrier (e.g., CAN bus, RS-232, RS-485 serial protocols, Ethernetprotocols, Token Ring networking protocols, etc.).

Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 3, the cabinet 10 includes a transceiverdevice 24 configured to communicate via a secondary communicationchannel 23, namely a short-range wireless network channel (such asBluetooth, Bluetooth low-energy (BTLE), near-field communication (NFC)or Zigbee). In this exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3, atleast two of the cabinets 10, 100 are located near each other in amedical supply storage room or a procedure room (or separate rooms nearto each other) and each cabinet 10, 100 is equipped with a transceiverdevice 24, 240 capable of communicating via the secondary communicationchannel 23. If the two cabinets 10, 100 are in communication via thesecondary channel 23, communication between the cabinet 10 and theinventory management system 22 can be re-established in a scenario wherethe primary communication channel 21 is unavailable, such as when thecabinet 10 has been disconnected from a wired network by unplugging acable, by the cabinet moving out of range of a wireless network, or byunintended changes to the settings of a facility's network.

Each transceiver 24, 240 may be capable of one-way or two-waycommunication. A BTLE radio (not shown) included in transceiver 24, 240,for example, may include a transmitter and a receiver. The BTLE radiocan be instructed to act as a one-way communication device for a periodof time. In that case, the BTLE radio only transmits a signal (i.e.,“beacon”). For example, the inventory management system 22 may instructthe transceiver 24, 240 to transmit a one-way beacon signal indicatingthat a product stored on the associated cabinet has expired or beenrecalled. A handheld mobile device 25 may be configured to receive thebeacon signal and notify the user that the cabinet contains the expiredor recalled product. Alternatively, the BTLE radio can be instructed tobecome a two-way communication device, and “pair” with a particularnearby shelf or cabinet. Once that is done, a two-way communication linkis established. In exemplary embodiments, cabinets 10, 100 that areconsidered sufficiently near to be paired with each other may be locatedup to substantially 30-100 feet apart.

If two nearby cabinets 10, 100 can communicate through the secondarychannel 23, valuable information about the cabinet 10 can be obtainedremotely even if the cabinet's primary communication channel is offline.For example, if the offline cabinet 10 determines that it is plugged-in,turned-on, and its computer is working, but the facility (i.e.,hospital) network is either unplugged or otherwise not functioning forthat cabinet 10, then the offline cabinet 10 can transmit a signal viathe secondary channel 23 indicating such status. In this scenario, anadjacent cabinet 100 could then receive the transmitted signal from thetransceiver 24 of the offline cabinet 10 and communicate the status ofthe offline cabinet 10 to the inventory management system 22. In variousembodiments, the nearby cabinet 100 can digitally pair itself to (i.e.,establish a two-way communication link with) the offline cabinet 10 andexchange messages with the offline cabinet 10 via the secondary channel23. These messages can include additional diagnostic information aboutthe offline cabinet 10, information read from the RFID tags stored in ornear the offline cabinet 10, or instructions to be executed by theoffline cabinet 10, such as instructions to reset or change its networksettings.

Furthermore, the cabinet 10 may be equipped with a battery backup powersource 34 so that the cabinet 10 can operate and/or communicate via thesecondary channel 23 even if the primary power supply to the cabinet 10is disconnected. If the transceiver 24 of the offline cabinet 10 hasbackup power available from the battery 34, it can transmit a beaconsignal or pair itself to and exchange messages with a transceiver 240 ofa nearby cabinet 100. The signal or message can include diagnostic orstatus information, for example that it (the offline cabinet 10) isrunning on backup power and needs to be plugged-in. The messages mayalso include information that the cabinet 10 would otherwise transmitvia the primary communication channel 21 during normal operation, suchas inventory counts or other information read from the RFID tags storedin or near the cabinet. Thus, through this additional secondarycommunication channel 23, valuable information can be obtained from, anddelivered to, the offline cabinet 10 through the communication linkestablished with the nearby cabinet 100 without requiring a technicianto perform a visit to physically inspect the offline cabinet 10, whichcan be expensive and time consuming. Additionally, operating data suchas inventory counts can be transmitted to the inventory managementsystem 22 with little or no delay or interruption.

In various embodiments, the transceiver 24 is used to communicatethrough the secondary channel 23 with a mobile device 25, such as ahandheld RFID reader, a computer tablet or a cellular phone. Theshort-range wireless transceiver 24 may be located on or in a cabinet 10as illustrated in FIG. 2, and/or it may be located on or in one or moreshelves 15, 115 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4. Although thetransceiver 24 may be located anywhere on the shelf 15, it may beadvantageous to position the transceiver 24 at a level on the shelf 15where the transceiver 24 will be as close as possible to a mobile device25 carried by a staff member, so that the signal strength between themobile device 25 and the shelf 15 that the staff member seeks tocommunicate with is as strong as possible compared to other shelves inthe room or area. This facilitates a determination of whichtransceiver(s) 24 the mobile device 25 pairs with. Once the transceiver24 establishes a connection with the mobile device 25, the system 22 maycause the shelf 15 to display a visual signal (such as a flashing light,LED, etc.) 26 to identify itself to the staff member. Thus, in someembodiments, the transceiver 24 and/or the visual signal display 26 maybe positioned at or near the front and center of the shelf 15 so thatthe staff member can more easily discern proximity to the desired shelf15. This configuration is illustrated in the upper-most shelf in FIG. 1.Locating the transceiver 24 at or near the front and center of the shelfmay not always be possible, and in these cases, the transceiver 24 maybe located in other areas, such as on the rear or sides of the shelf(shown in the middle and lower shelves in FIG. 1).

As discussed above and shown on the lower shelf in FIG. 1, a shelf 15may be equipped with a light source 26 (such as a LED) that emits lightin multiple colors, indicating various status levels. For example, LEDlights 26 on a shelf 15 may emit green, yellow, or red light. If theshelf 15 emits a green light, this may indicate that all is well withthe shelf 15. If the shelf 15 emits a yellow light, this may indicatethat there is one or more non-critical alerts available about the stateof that shelf 15. Examples of non-critical alerts include that stock ofa particular medical item 1 is below-par or above-par for items normallystocked on that shelf 15. If the shelf 15 emits a red light, this mayindicate that there are critical alerts, possibly safety related, forthat shelf 15. Examples of critical alerts include that an expired orrecalled medical item is on that shelf 15, or that the shelf is not incommunication with the inventory management system 22. It is to beunderstood by those skilled in the art that any combination of colorsmay be used to indicate status of the shelf 15. In addition to flashinga color, the lights 26 may also blink, or shine brighter or dimmer toindicate the urgency of the alert. Audible signals emitted in variousintervals or tones may also be used to indicate alerts.

In some embodiments, the shelf 15 connects with the cabinet 100, whichcontains the necessary hardware (i.e., computer and/or RFID reader) toread and/or process the RF or digital signals and communicate with theinventory management system 22. In various other embodiments, the shelfcan be configured as a “smart shelf” such that it can operateindependent of a cabinet 100. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, asmart shelf 115 may include its own RFID antenna 46, RFID reader 20,computer 30, network adapter 34, and/or transceiver 24 such that theshelf 115 can read RFID tags and communicate with the inventorymanagement system 22 and/or with other nearby shelves or cabinets viaits transceiver 24 independent of another cabinet or shelf. In theseembodiments, for example, the smart shelf 115 could be placed onto atable or used to retrofit an existing shelf in a cabinet.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in someembodiments, a shelf or a cabinet may be equipped with a minimal numberof electrical components necessary to read and transmit the serialnumbers of stored RFID tags (and perhaps a serial number of the shelf orcabinet) to the inventory management system. The inventory managementsystem, based on the received serial numbers, may track the location ofthe medical items, determine inventory levels on-hand at variouslocations, and process and analyze additional information that theinventory management system has associated with the serial numbers ofthe stored medical items, such as product descriptions, lot numbers, andexpiration dates. The inventory management system can host anddistribute such information to client terminals and mobile devices thatmay access the inventory management system via the cloud. Additionally,the inventory management system, based on the additional information itprocesses, may issue certain notifications or instructions to a cabinetor shelf. For example, if the inventory management system determinesthat a product stored on a particular shelf has expired, the inventorymanagement system may instruct the shelf to display a visualnotification (such as illuminate an LED light) or transmit a beaconsignal via the shelf's transceiver to indicate that a product on thatshelf has expired.

In various other embodiments, in addition to reading and transmittingRFID tag serial numbers, a shelf or a cabinet may be configured to storeand/or process additional information independent of the inventorymanagement system. For example, a smart shelf may read additionalinformation encoded on RFID tags, such as a medical item's productdescription, lot number, and expiration date, or the smart shelf maystore a database of such information locally in a computer readablemedium. The smart shelf may process and store the additionalinformation, which may then be accessed for example, by a mobile devicecommunicating with the smart shelf via the shelf's transceiver. Thisarrangement advantageously makes inventory information available at thestorage location without the need for a client terminal or mobile deviceto communicate directly with the inventory management system. Forexample, such a smart shelf can independently determine whether any ofthe medical items stored on the shelf have expired, and can transmit abeacon signal alert, display a visual signal, or otherwise make theinformation available on-site without the need to communicate with theinventory management system.

In the example embodiment of FIG. 4, each shelf 115 may include localintelligence and communicate over a wired bus 55 to a communicationaggregator 52 connected to the cloud 50. The aggregator 52 manages thecommunication of many shelves 115 and may be located in one or morecabinets or shelves, or may be housed independently of any cabinet orshelf as is illustrated in FIG. 4. A shelf 115 can use the wired bus 55much like a conventional communication channel to communicate to theaggregator 52 in several ways, including:

-   -   (1) send information read from medical item tags (i.e., bar code        or RFID tags) from the cabinet to the cloud during or after a        cabinet inventory read cycle;    -   (2) modify cabinet settings, such as the frequency of inventory        read cycles;    -   (3) update software or firmware on the cabinet remotely; and    -   (4) send diagnostic commands to assess problems and obtain        diagnostic information and logs.

From time-to-time, a problem can occur in which the symptom is that theshelf 115 loses communication with the wired aggregator 52. If the shelfhas access to an alternate short-range wireless network (such asBluetooth, Bluetooth low-energy (BTLE), or Zigbee), communication can bere-established over this wireless network 23. The shelf 115 would thenbe able to respond to diagnostic commands and problems can be assessed.

Further, the alternate short-range wireless network 23 can performadditional functions. Currently, when hospital staff interacts with aninventory management system 22 and/or RFID cabinets 10, it is useful toknow which shelves 15 or cabinets 10 are in close physical proximity tothe staff member. The staff member may be searching for a particularcabinet 10 or shelf 15 carrying a medical item required for a procedure,or the staff member may be searching for expired inventory to be removedfrom the shelves 15. If the staff member carries a Bluetooth-equippedmobile device 25, such as a handheld RFID reader, a smartphone or atablet, such device may discern which shelves 15 are nearby by assessingthe strength of the signals emitted by the transceivers 24 of thecabinets 10 or shelves 15.

This information might be used to simplify the interaction between thestaff member and the inventory that he/she is faced with. When a medicaldevice storage room is initially set up with multiple cabinets 10,shelves 15 and possibly aggregators 52, the setup process can includecreation of a digital “map” showing relative physical locations (2D or3D) of all possible stocking locations and components in the room. Eachof these locations can then be mapped to a particular wireless beaconsignal 23. Then, when the staff member searches for a particular item 1known by the inventory management system 22 to be located on aparticular shelf 15, software associated with the cabinet 10 and/or theinventory system 22 alerts the staff member whether the correct shelf 15is nearby, not nearby, forwards, backwards up, down, to the right, tothe left, or in an adjacent room. This alerting can be based at least inpart on the strength of the signal 23 emitted by the transceiver 24 andrecognized by the mobile device 25 carried by the staff member.

Also, some inventory management tasks, such as performing an inventorycount, require the staff member to input the physical location or IDnumber of the cabinet 10/shelf 15. With the short-range wireless signal23 present, software on the staff member's mobile device 25 may displaya drop-down list of possible cabinets 10 populated only by thosecabinets 10 that are within a given, relatively close distance of thestaff member based on the beacon signals 23 detected by the mobiledevice 25, for example, within ten feet. This shortens the list ofpotential cabinets 10 the staff member must choose from, simplifies theinputting process for the staff member, and reduces the possibility ofthe staff member entering an erroneous cabinet 10. Further, if anerroneous location or cabinet 10 is inputted, the system recognizes thatthe inputted entry is not nearby and prompts the staff member to correctthe mistake.

Additionally, if the staff member is searching for a particular medicaldevice 1 in the inventory, time may be critical to obtain a good medicaloutcome for a patient. Therefore, in some embodiments, the communicationchannel between an inventory shelf 15 and a Bluetooth-equipped mobiledevice 25 may be used to signal the shelf 15 to activate a light 26 orsound to quickly alert the staff member of the shelf's location inreal-time.

In another embodiment, a staff member carrying, for example, aBluetooth-enabled mobile device 25 may enter a room having medicalsupply cabinets 10 equipped with shelves 15 having status indicatorlights 26. The staff member may look around for critical alert lights(i.e., red) and approach that particular shelf 15. Proximity to thebeacon signal 23 will inform the mobile device 25 that the staff memberis in a position to address the alerts on the particular shelf 15. Thesealerts are then presented on the mobile device 25 either 1) through theWi-Fi network 21 or 2) directly from the shelf 10 to the mobile device25 through a short range wireless network link 23 between thetransceiver 24 on the shelf 15 and the mobile device 25.

While the foregoing disclosure discusses example embodiments, it shouldbe noted that various changes and modifications could be made hereinwithout departing from the scope of the described embodiments as definedby the appended claims. Furthermore, although elements of the describedembodiments may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural iscontemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.Additionally, all or a portion of any embodiment may be utilized withall or a portion of any other embodiment, unless stated otherwise.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A storage cabinet, comprising: a shelf configured to read a radio-frequency identification (“RFID”) tag affixed to an item located on the shelf; and a communication device configured to communicate with an inventory management system via a communication channel; wherein the communication device communicates an inventory signal to the inventory management system comprising information regarding the RFID tag affixed to the item, and wherein the inventory management system communicates an action signal to the storage cabinet based on the inventory signal.
 22. The storage cabinet of claim 21, wherein the information regarding the RFID tag comprises a unique serial number.
 23. The storage cabinet of claim 21, wherein the information regarding the RFID tag comprises a location of the item.
 24. The storage cabinet of claim 23, wherein light emitting didoes (“LEDs”) are configured to be illuminated based upon the action signal.
 25. The storage cabinet of claim 23, wherein LEDs are located on the shelf and are configured to illuminate the location of the item on the shelf.
 26. The storage cabinet of claim 21, wherein the inventory management system determines an inventory level of the item based on the inventory signal.
 27. The storage cabinet of claim 26, wherein the action signal indicates the inventory level of the item is below a threshold.
 28. The storage cabinet of claim 27, wherein the shelf comprises LEDs and are configured to illuminate a color based on the action signal.
 29. The storage cabinet of claim 27, wherein the storage cabinet is configured to emit an audible signal based the action signal.
 30. The storage cabinet of claim 29, wherein the audible signal is emitted at various intervals or tones.
 31. The storage cabinet of claim 21, wherein the shelf comprises a RFID reader.
 32. the storage cabinet of claim 21, wherein the inventory management system is located at a cloud server.
 33. A method of managing inventory in a storage cabinet, comprising: reading a radio-frequency identification (“RFID”) tag affixed to an item located on a shelf; and communicating with an inventory management system via a communication channel; wherein a communication device communicates an inventory signal to the inventory management system comprising information regarding the RFID tag affixed to the item, and wherein the inventory management system communicates an action signal to the storage cabinet based on the inventory signal.
 34. The method of claim 33, further comprising determining an inventory level of the item based on the inventory signal.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the action signal indicates the inventory level of the item is below a threshold.
 36. The method of claim 35, further comprising illuminating LEDs located on the shelf based on the action signal.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the LEDs are configured to illuminate with different colors based on the determined inventory level.
 38. The method of claim 34, further comprising emitting an audible signal based on the action signal.
 39. The method of claim 34, wherein the inventory level is determined based upon a serial number of the RFID tag.
 40. The method of claim 33, wherein reading the RFID tag occurs at iterative intervals. 